


Building a Nest

by ScribblesOnPebbles



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Nesting, Omega John Watson, Omega Sherlock Holmes, Omega Verse, Omega/Omega, Swearing, they have a scuffle at the start but after that it's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25551601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribblesOnPebbles/pseuds/ScribblesOnPebbles
Summary: “What thehellare you doing to my nest?”•••••John discovers that Sherlock deleted his information on nesting, bewildering him since they are both omegas. He convinces his flatmate to try nesting out. Cue shopping for nest materials and snuggles.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 24
Kudos: 233





	Building a Nest

As John approached the steps of 221B, he sighed in relief. Home. Now he could nest after a long day of work. Mondays were particularly busy and always took a toll on him, so before work he would build his nest in the morning. Waking up earlier wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it was worth it once he was bundled up and surrounded by his comfort scents. Just a couple more flights of stairs and he would find his nest ready for him to flop on. 

With each eager step, he made his way up to his bedroom. Sounds of the telly on or the occasional shuffling above hadn’t registered him, his mind already zoning and getting prepared to kip. He opened the door to his room and—

“What the _hell_ are you doing to my nest?” He growled. His flatmate was tearing his abundance of blankets and pillows off the bed, occasionally plucking a stuffed animal from his nest and tossing it to the ground as if it was a piece of trash. Sherlock hadn’t reacted to his presence and continued his destruction. 

With quick strides he was in Sherlock’s space. In seconds, he had his flatmate pressed up against the wall, one arm restrained behind his back by John’s tight grip to the wrist, the other pinned up at the wall beside his head. 

“While I appreciate your greeting,” his deep muffled voice came through, “My breathing is strained in this position.” 

“You don’t just rip apart an omega’s nest and expect to go unscathed.” In fact, John was tame in comparison. He had heard many stories of people hospitalised for going near an omega’s nest uninvited. 

A flicker of, dare John say, _confusion_ , ran across the detective’s face before he narrowed his eyes. 

“I don’t see how I warranted this behaviour,” Sherlock huffed, “I’m trying to take back what’s rightfully mine,” the dark-haired man flicked the wrist of his hand that was pinned to the wall. The hand that grasped a grey smooth fabric; Sherlock’s dress shirt.

Oh, bugger all. 

John released his hold on his flatmate and took a deep breath. Sherlock smoothed out his trousers.

“I was searching for it, then I eventually caught the scent and pinpointed it in your room.” _Damn Sherlock and his bloodhound nose._ “I am still deciphering why you would do such a thing in the first place,” _Was Sherlock playing dumb with him?_ “It is abundantly clear that you cannot fit in my clothes,” Sherlock said, looking up and down on John in an exaggerated motion, “With me as a comparison, you are short and—”

“—What?” John felt his face heat up. Sherlock was really trying hard to get him to admit that John liked his scent. “Alright, fine. Couldn’t just let this be. I took your damn shirt because I like to put it up to my nose and sniff it like it’s fucking cocaine during nesting. Are you happy now?”

Sherlock stayed silent. He had that look on his face. Eyebrows twitched together, his eyes looking everywhere but also nowhere at the same time. The look that expressed he didn’t know something and was searching through his Mind Palace.

Oh.

_Oh._

John groaned, “You are an omega and you live with one. You must know about nesting. It’s an instinct we have.”

“Hm. It appears I have deleted it,” Sherlock’s voice held a bored tone, “Most likely with the rest of omega biology along with it.”

John sighed. He wanted to smack his arm for being uninformed about something that’s so essential to omegas, but also wanted to beam ‘brilliant’ at him since who the hell can simply ‘delete’ an instinct? 

Then, an idea sparked in his mind. “Sherlock, I think you could benefit from nesting.” His flatmate was moody when there were no cases and that led to spontaneous behaviour and experiments that always left the flat in a sticky mess, quite literally. 

Sherlock said nothing and with an inquiring quirk of his brow motioned John to continue. 

“A nest is like a safe spot for omegas, a space of comfort for themselves. Nowadays they involve bedding, pillows and the like.” John bent down to pick up the teddy bear that Harry had given him before he left for Afghanistan, colour faded and seams falling apart. “And we bring stuff in that makes us feel at ease or things that smell good to us.” He placed Bond back in his nest. 

“Typically they’re for heat cycles,” John continued. He didn’t think that Sherlock deleted heats, as he knew his fellow omega was taking suppressants. “But outside of heat it’s common for us to build a nest when we’re stressed out or agitated. The nest allows us to calm down our senses and rest.” Sherlock nodded his head slowly and John could see the detective processing and taking the information in with a focused look in his eyes. 

“Nesting,” Sherlock said, trying the word on his tongue. “I see, that explains your hostility. I had harmed your nest. Your territory.” 

“Yeah,” John licked his lips absently. The truth was that a part of him had been happy to see his omega flatmate by his nest. He fancied him a lot and wanted him in his nest, he just hadn’t expected to see him destroying his hard work. 

“You think nesting would help me?” Sherlock frowned, “We’ve been flatmates for quite some time now, you should know that stimulation is what I need. The act of nesting is the opposite of that.”

John scratched his head, “That is true, but I think you should try it out. You never know. Consider this an experiment to see if nesting makes you feel more refreshed than if you slept normally.” 

Sherlock’s eyes brightened. “Alright, then. How do I get started?”

“There’s a little shop nearby that’s specifically for nesting supplies and materials. We’ll go there tomorrow,” he replied. “For now, I should…” John looked down at the heaps of his nest all over the floor. 

“Oh,” Sherlock whispered. “John, I am truly—”

“No need to say it,” John shook his head, “It’s my fault anyways for taking your shirt. That wasn’t on.” 

He ushered Sherlock to the door, but his tall friend stopped and turned to face him. With two hands, he pushed his dress shirt to John’s chest.

“Take it,” his flatmate’s silvery eyes observed him.

John felt his jaw drop. “Are...are you sure?” 

“I’ll buy a new one. Using Mycroft’s money, of course,” a small smile snuck on his face. 

With arms that felt heavy, John brought his hands up to grasp at the silky soft fabric, some of his fingers overlapped with Sherlock’s and the touch sent a spark of warmth to his heart. He wanted to never let go and wanted to pull Sherlock into an embrace. The feeling quickly fled when the taller dropped his hands to the side. Saddened by the loss, John moved by reflex and brought the dress shirt up to his face, inhaling and smelling deeply, taking in Sherlock’s sweet omega scent of tea that had an alluring smoky undertone to it. It instantly calmed him down.

When he looked up, Sherlock was gazing intently on him, eyes wide. His breathing had a baritone pur laced into it. It sent a tingle up John’s spine. 

Embarrassed by his primal display, John sputtered, “Oh,” he coughed and could feel his body flush, “Thank you. That’s, uh, very considerate of you.” He pushed Sherlock out of his room and swiftly closed the door on him. Had he imagined Sherlock’s interest in him just now? Either way, he wanted Sherlock more than ever. His gorgeous, thrilling flatmate completed him, but he wasn’t sure what Sherlock felt about him given his disinterest towards romance. He dropped to his knees and buried his nose back into the dress shirt. 

****

“There’s a blanket over here that’s softer.” 

“You don’t understand, John, _it has to be beige_ ,” Sherlock insisted with a huff. 

This was definitely something he would be telling his omega co-workers; the world’s one and only consulting detective bloody _colour-coordinated_ his nest. They had already spent an hour in _Nest Our Omega_. John told him more about nesting and suggested him items, while Sherlock listened carefully and fixated on colours more than anything else ( _‘this isn’t the right shade of purple, its hue is too much on the red side’_ ). John shouldn’t have been so surprised, after all, the man dressed impeccably and with fantastic taste.

John put his hands in the air in defeat and continued to browse through the quaint familiar shop, making slow steps on the polished wooden floor. They had a lot more items in stock from the last time he had been there. He spotted a collection of small scented candles in intricate yellow containers as he strolled further down to feel at a comforter. Up ahead, a couple of circular canopy beds were on display and he made his way over. He sat carefully on the lavish bed, feeling himself sink into the softness. 

Sherlock strolled towards him handling a bunch of blankets, covers and pillows. 

“Right, I got everything I need,” Sherlock beamed, looking as cheery as he would on a locked-room murder case. John peered at his assortment of purchases. 

“You’ve got a yellow blanket in there,” John pointed at it. “Doesn’t that mess up your purple-beige-grey-black colour scheme?”

His flatmate shuffled his feet. “It’s for you, John,” he sounded pleased. “Since we came in here, you have been examining blankets and feeling their softness. On the other hand, your eyes have been more drawn to and lingered on yellow items, specifically a pale yellow. Luckily, I found a blanket in the right colour.” Sherlock put his baggage down on the bed to fish up a pale yellow knitted blanket large in size, and handed it into John’s arms. It felt _expensive_.

Sherlock patiently looked at him, waiting for his response. 

“Brilliant,” John finally said, remembering he had a mouth and could speak. He marveled at the soft texture underneath his fingertips. “Thank you, Sherlock, that’s very kind of you. I don’t know how I can make it up to you, but I will—”

Sherlock shook his head and interjected with, “Don’t bother. This outing was surprisingly pleasant and my experience only heightened thanks to you.” A rare genuine smile of Sherlock’s was aimed at him and John positively melted, he could feel his cheeks heating up. 

“Besides,” the taller continued, “I had used Mycroft’s money. Owing him anything is the last thing you want.” His face scrunched up a bit and John laughed.

****

They were back at home. John sat on his usual seat reading a novel, his new knitted blanket was wrapped snug around him. He could hear Sherlock shuffling around in his bedroom getting his nest together. John pointed out that it wouldn’t be as effective if he wasn’t feeling distressed, but Sherlock ignored him, seeming very eager to try it out.

A good half hour later and his flatmate trudged out of his room. John looked up from his book. Sherlock’s mouth was pulled in a deep frown and his nose was twitching ever so slightly. 

“Sherlock? Did something happen?” John questioned, but didn’t get an answer. The taller pulled John insistently from his chair, leaving his blanket behind and herded him to his room. 

After they stepped in, John saw the other omega’s newly made nest on his bed. It looked something straight out of a romance drama show; a lot more organized and neat for your average omega’s nest. It was rather lovely, John could see why Sherlock picked the colour scheme. Black and purple contrasted nicely with the beige and light grey. In the mix, he could see a couple of scarves, a lab coat and even the deerstalker.

“It’s not right,” Sherlock’s voice was tinged with displeasure, his hands opened and closed in frustration. With that, John felt a strong hand wrapped around his wrist and led him close to the nest. He felt a firm shove to his back before he tumbled onto bed.

“S-Sherlock?!” he squeaked. 

His flatmate gave a noise of content. “Much better. While I was building my nest, my… instincts were telling me something was off.” Sherlock climbed on the bed and repositioned them both so they were on their sides, curled in and facing each other. He inched over closer and buried his face at the base of John’s neck and sniffed long and slow. 

Feeling the warmth from Sherlock’s body, his breath on his skin and the scent of him cloaked all around him, John let out a soft mewl. 

“You said to bring in things that smelled good, so I brought you here. Your scent is absolutely divine,” Sherlock purred, taking another whiff. With a gentle hand, he brought John’s face to his neck, letting the dazed omega breathe in his scent. Nuzzling, stroking through hair and light caresses passed between them as an hour quietly went by. 

John started coming back to his senses, the warm buzz he felt in the pit of his stomach was prominent. Sherlock was shifting around and his eyes fluttered open. 

“That felt soothing in ways even I cannot discern completely,” his flatmate’s mellow voice vibrated. “We shall nest together from now on.” 

He bit his bottom lip. Sure, it was common for omega friends to nest together, but John wasn’t sure he could keep doing this. Nest with Sherlock while having feelings for the man. It would break his heart too much.

As if he read his mind, Sherlock leaned forward and suddenly his soft cupid bow lips were pressing gently on John’s. When the feather light kiss broke apart, John dived right back in. _Passion flowed_. 

Eventually, they pulled back. Sherlock’s soft low voice spoke out, “Did that answer anything? You had looked troubled.” Strong arms enveloped John. “You mean everything to me. We can be partners. Mates. I am yours, John, I always was.” He nuzzled the top of his forehead.

“Mates,” John repeated, his voice a whisper. He felt a surge of warmth most notably at his eyes. He nudged him back with affection, “Yes, of course. And I’m yours. Always was, and always will be.”

In their nest, the omegas snuggled deeper into each other feeling safe, protected and loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3!! This isn’t betaed or brit-picked, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> I encourage comments and feedback!!! They mean a lot to me!  
> ┊  
> ✧･ﾟ  
> I’m a huge fan of Omega/Omega pairing between Sherlock and John and I hope more fics of that are created! Oh and just wanted to say that John and Sherlock bought one of those circular canopy beds that were on display after! And this fic is _not_ related to my Making It Three fic!  
> ┊  
> ✧･ﾟ  
> You can reach out to me on Tumblr: [ScribblesOnPebbles](https://scribblesonpebbles.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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